IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/eee/jeeman/v110y2021ics0095069621001017.html

Retail pricing in Colombia to support the efficient deployment of distributed generation and electric stoves

Author

Listed:
  • McRae, Shaun D.
  • Wolak, Frank A.

Abstract

Electricity tariff reform is an essential part of the clean energy transition. Existing tariffs encourage the over-adoption of residential solar systems and the under-adoption of electric alternatives to fossil fuels. However, an efficient tariff based on fixed charges and marginal cost pricing may harm low-income households. We propose an alternative methodology for setting fixed charges based on each household’s willingness to pay to consume electricity at marginal cost. Using household-level data from Colombia, we demonstrate the short-run and long-run distortions from the existing tariffs and how our new methodology could provide the economic, environmental, and health benefits from adopting clean energy technologies while still protecting low-income households from higher bills.

Suggested Citation

  • McRae, Shaun D. & Wolak, Frank A., 2021. "Retail pricing in Colombia to support the efficient deployment of distributed generation and electric stoves," Journal of Environmental Economics and Management, Elsevier, vol. 110(C).
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:jeeman:v:110:y:2021:i:c:s0095069621001017
    DOI: 10.1016/j.jeem.2021.102541
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0095069621001017
    Download Restriction: Full text for ScienceDirect subscribers only
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1016/j.jeem.2021.102541?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    As the access to this document is restricted, you may want to

    for a different version of it.

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Hancevic, Pedro I. & Nuñez, Hector M., "undated". "Distributed Photovoltaic Power Generation: A Widespread Application in the Mexican Residential Sector," 2017 Annual Meeting, July 30-August 1, Chicago, Illinois 258129, Agricultural and Applied Economics Association.
    2. Rema Hanna & Benjamin A. Olken, 2018. "Universal Basic Incomes versus Targeted Transfers: Anti-Poverty Programs in Developing Countries," Journal of Economic Perspectives, American Economic Association, vol. 32(4), pages 201-226, Fall.
    3. Miller, Mark & Alberini, Anna, 2016. "Sensitivity of price elasticity of demand to aggregation, unobserved heterogeneity, price trends, and price endogeneity: Evidence from U.S. Data," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 97(C), pages 235-249.
    4. Graff Zivin, Joshua S. & Kotchen, Matthew J. & Mansur, Erin T., 2014. "Spatial and temporal heterogeneity of marginal emissions: Implications for electric cars and other electricity-shifting policies," Journal of Economic Behavior & Organization, Elsevier, vol. 107(PA), pages 248-268.
    5. Kristin Komives & Vivien Foster & Jonathan Halpern & Quentin Wodon, 2005. "Water, Electricity, and the Poor : Who Benefits from Utility Subsidies?," World Bank Publications - Books, The World Bank Group, number 6361, April.
    6. repec:aen:journl:ej40-1-castro is not listed on IDEAS
    7. Lucas W. Davis & Lutz Kilian, 2011. "The Allocative Cost of Price Ceilings in the U.S. Residential Market for Natural Gas," Journal of Political Economy, University of Chicago Press, vol. 119(2), pages 212-241.
    8. repec:dbl:dblwop:1027 is not listed on IDEAS
    9. Shaun McRae, 2015. "Infrastructure Quality and the Subsidy Trap," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 105(1), pages 35-66, January.
    10. Frank A. Wolak, 2018. "The Evidence from California on the Economic Impact of Inefficient Distribution Network Pricing," NBER Working Papers 25087, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    11. Duncan S. Callaway & Meredith Fowlie & Gavin McCormick, 2018. "Location, Location, Location: The Variable Value of Renewable Energy and Demand-Side Efficiency Resources," Journal of the Association of Environmental and Resource Economists, University of Chicago Press, vol. 5(1), pages 39-75.
    12. Severin Borenstein & Lucas W. Davis, 2012. "The Equity and Efficiency of Two-Part Tariffs in U.S. Natural Gas Markets," Journal of Law and Economics, University of Chicago Press, vol. 55(1), pages 75-128.
    13. Barron, Manuel & Torero, Maximo, 2017. "Household electrification and indoor air pollution," Journal of Environmental Economics and Management, Elsevier, vol. 86(C), pages 81-92.
    14. Severin Borenstein, 2012. "The Redistributional Impact of Nonlinear Electricity Pricing," American Economic Journal: Economic Policy, American Economic Association, vol. 4(3), pages 56-90, August.
    15. Molly Lipscomb & A. Mushfiq Mobarak & Tania Barham, 2013. "Development Effects of Electrification: Evidence from the Topographic Placement of Hydropower Plants in Brazil," American Economic Journal: Applied Economics, American Economic Association, vol. 5(2), pages 200-231, April.
    16. repec:aen:journl:ej41-1-burger is not listed on IDEAS
    17. Bryan Bollinger & Kenneth Gillingham, 2012. "Peer Effects in the Diffusion of Solar Photovoltaic Panels," Marketing Science, INFORMS, vol. 31(6), pages 900-912, November.
    18. Castaneda, Monica & Franco, Carlos J. & Dyner, Isaac, 2017. "Evaluating the effect of technology transformation on the electricity utility industry," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 80(C), pages 341-351.
    19. Lucas W. Davis & Erich Muehlegger, 2010. "Do Americans consume too little natural gas? An empirical test of marginal cost pricing," RAND Journal of Economics, RAND Corporation, vol. 41(4), pages 791-810, December.
    20. Paul J. Gertler & Orie Shelef & Catherine D. Wolfram & Alan Fuchs, 2016. "The Demand for Energy-Using Assets among the World's Rising Middle Classes," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 106(6), pages 1366-1401, June.
    21. Stephen P. Holland & Erin T. Mansur & Nicholas Z. Muller & Andrew J. Yates, 2016. "Are There Environmental Benefits from Driving Electric Vehicles? The Importance of Local Factors," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 106(12), pages 3700-3729, December.
    22. Castaneda, Monica & Jimenez, Maritza & Zapata, Sebastian & Franco, Carlos J. & Dyner, Isaac, 2017. "Myths and facts of the utility death spiral," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 110(C), pages 105-116.
    23. Hancevic, Pedro I. & Nuñez, Hector M. & Rosellon, Juan, 2017. "Distributed photovoltaic power generation: Possibilities, benefits, and challenges for a widespread application in the Mexican residential sector," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 110(C), pages 478-489.
    24. Severin Borenstein & James B. Bushnell, 2022. "Do Two Electricity Pricing Wrongs Make a Right? Cost Recovery, Externalities, and Efficiency," American Economic Journal: Economic Policy, American Economic Association, vol. 14(4), pages 80-110, November.
    25. Koichiro ITO & Shuang ZHANG, 2020. "Reforming Inefficient Energy Pricing: Evidence from China," Discussion papers 20062, Research Institute of Economy, Trade and Industry (RIETI).
    26. Rema Hanna & Benjamin A. Olken, 2018. "Universal Basic Incomes vs. Targeted Transfers: Anti-Poverty Programs in Developing Countries," NBER Working Papers 24939, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    27. Koichiro Ito & Shuang Zhang, 2025. "Do Consumers Distinguish Fixed Cost from Variable Cost? "Schmeduling" in Two-Part Tariffs in Energy," American Economic Journal: Economic Policy, American Economic Association, vol. 17(2), pages 194-223, May.
    28. Roger E. Bohn & Michael C. Caramanis & Fred C. Schweppe, 1984. "Optimal Pricing in Electrical Networks over Space and Time," RAND Journal of Economics, The RAND Corporation, vol. 15(3), pages 360-376, Autumn.
    29. Anna, Petrenko, . "Мaркування готової продукції як складова частина інформаційного забезпечення маркетингової діяльності підприємств овочепродуктового підкомплексу," Agricultural and Resource Economics: International Scientific E-Journal, Agricultural and Resource Economics: International Scientific E-Journal, vol. 2(01).
    30. Alan Barreca & Karen Clay & Olivier Deschenes & Michael Greenstone & Joseph S. Shapiro, 2016. "Adapting to Climate Change: The Remarkable Decline in the US Temperature-Mortality Relationship over the Twentieth Century," Journal of Political Economy, University of Chicago Press, vol. 124(1), pages 105-159.
    31. Banerjee, Manjushree & Prasad, Rakesh & Rehman, Ibrahim H & Gill, Bigsna, 2016. "Induction stoves as an option for clean cooking in rural India," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 88(C), pages 159-167.
    32. Arthur A. van Benthem, 2015. "Energy Leapfrogging," Journal of the Association of Environmental and Resource Economists, University of Chicago Press, vol. 2(1), pages 93-132.
    33. Grant Miller & Diana Pinto & Marcos Vera-Hernández, 2013. "Risk Protection, Service Use, and Health Outcomes under Colombia's Health Insurance Program for the Poor," American Economic Journal: Applied Economics, American Economic Association, vol. 5(4), pages 61-91, October.
    34. Adriana Camacho & Emily Conover, 2011. "Manipulation of Social Program Eligibility," American Economic Journal: Economic Policy, American Economic Association, vol. 3(2), pages 41-65, May.
    35. Jimenez, Maritza & Franco, Carlos J. & Dyner, Isaac, 2016. "Diffusion of renewable energy technologies: The need for policy in Colombia," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 111(C), pages 818-829.
    36. Monica Castaneda & Sebastian Zapata & Andres Aristizabal, 2018. "Assessing the Effect of Incentive Policies on Residential PV Investments in Colombia," Energies, MDPI, vol. 11(10), pages 1-17, October.
    37. Nicholas Z. Muller & Robert Mendelsohn, 2012. "Efficient Pollution Regulation: Getting the Prices Right: Corrigendum (Mortality Rate Update)," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 102(1), pages 613-616, February.
    38. Koichiro Ito, 2014. "Do Consumers Respond to Marginal or Average Price? Evidence from Nonlinear Electricity Pricing," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 104(2), pages 537-563, February.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. Sandoval, Hector & Hancevic, Pedro & Bejarano, Hernán, 2025. "The hidden costs of tariff misclassification: Structural winners and losers," Energy Economics, Elsevier, vol. 144(C).
    2. David Rios & Alex Perez & Jaime Carabali & Luis Meneses, 2024. "Poder de mercado y eventos climáticos adversos en un mercado de electricidad hidro-dominado," Borradores de Economia 1266, Banco de la Republica de Colombia.
    3. Liu, Yulin & Wei, Haoran, 2025. "Will alleviating energy poverty enhance social trust in China? An approach based on dual machine learning modeling," Energy Economics, Elsevier, vol. 147(C).
    4. Ipsita Das & Leonard le Roux & Richard Mulwa & Remidius Ruhinduka & Marc Jeuland, 2024. "Urban demand for cooking fuels in two major African cities and implications for policy," PLOS Sustainability and Transformation, Public Library of Science, vol. 3(2), pages 1-21, February.

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Mar Reguant, 2018. "The Efficiency and Sectoral Distributional Implications of Large-Scale Renewable Policies," NBER Working Papers 24398, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    2. Alberini, Anna & Khymych, Olha & Ščasný, Milan, 2020. "Responsiveness to energy price changes when salience is high: Residential natural gas demand in Ukraine," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 144(C).
    3. Beltrami, Filippo & Grossi, Luigi & Liebensteiner, Mario, 2025. "Beyond borders: Estimating the marginal emission factor of electricity trade," Energy Economics, Elsevier, vol. 148(C).
    4. Wichman, Casey, 2024. "Efficiency, Equity, and Cost-Recovery Trade-Offs in Municipal Water Pricing," RFF Working Paper Series 24-18, Resources for the Future.
    5. Farrell, Niall, 2021. "The increasing cost of ignoring Coase: Inefficient electricity tariffs, welfare loss and welfare-reducing technological change," Energy Economics, Elsevier, vol. 97(C).
    6. Robert W. Hahn & Robert D. Metcalfe, 2021. "Efficiency and Equity Impacts of Energy Subsidies," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 111(5), pages 1658-1688, May.
    7. Houde, Sébastien & Myers, Erica, 2021. "Are consumers attentive to local energy costs? Evidence from the appliance market," Journal of Public Economics, Elsevier, vol. 201(C).
    8. Luo, Bei & Lyu, Xueying & Song, Ze, 2025. "Efficiency and equity of electricity pricing: Evidence from family-size-based IBP in Shanghai, China," China Economic Review, Elsevier, vol. 92(C).
    9. Todd D. Gerarden & Richard G. Newell & Robert N. Stavins, 2025. "Assessing the Energy-Efficiency Gap," World Scientific Book Chapters, in: Economics of Environment, Climate Change, and Wine Selected Papers of Robert N Stavins Volume 3 (2011–2023), chapter 4, pages 53-118, World Scientific Publishing Co. Pte. Ltd..
    10. Abajian, Alexander & Pretnar, Nick, 2023. "Subsidies for Close Substitutes: Evidence from Residential Solar Systems," MPRA Paper 118171, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    11. Arik Levinson & Emilson Silva, 2022. "The Electric Gini: Income Redistribution through Energy Prices," American Economic Journal: Economic Policy, American Economic Association, vol. 14(2), pages 341-365, May.
    12. Farrell, Niall & Meles, Tensay Hadush, 2023. "The equity and efficiency of electricity network tariffs," Papers WP744, Economic and Social Research Institute (ESRI).
    13. Farrell, Niall & Humes, Harry, 2022. "Diminishing deadweight loss through energy subsidy cost recovery," Papers WP727, Economic and Social Research Institute (ESRI).
    14. Koichiro Ito & Shuang Zhang, 2025. "Do Consumers Distinguish Fixed Cost from Variable Cost? "Schmeduling" in Two-Part Tariffs in Energy," American Economic Journal: Economic Policy, American Economic Association, vol. 17(2), pages 194-223, May.
    15. Hancevic, Pedro I. & Sandoval, Hector H., 2023. "Solar panel adoption among Mexican small and medium-sized commercial and service businesses," Energy Economics, Elsevier, vol. 126(C).
    16. Koichiro ITO & Shuang ZHANG, 2020. "Reforming Inefficient Energy Pricing: Evidence from China," Discussion papers 20062, Research Institute of Economy, Trade and Industry (RIETI).
    17. Mark Colas & Emmett Reynier, 2024. "Means-Tested Solar Subsidies," CESifo Working Paper Series 11378, CESifo.
    18. Borenstein, Severin & Bushnell, James, 2021. "Issues, Questions, and a Research Agenda for the Role of Pricing in Residential Electrification," RFF Working Paper Series 21-35, Resources for the Future.
    19. Ansarin, Mohammad & Ghiassi-Farrokhfal, Yashar & Ketter, Wolfgang & Collins, John, 2020. "The economic consequences of electricity tariff design in a renewable energy era," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 275(C).
    20. Harrison Fell & Daniel T. Kaffine & Kevin Novan, 2021. "Emissions, Transmission, and the Environmental Value of Renewable Energy," American Economic Journal: Economic Policy, American Economic Association, vol. 13(2), pages 241-272, May.

    More about this item

    Keywords

    ;
    ;
    ;
    ;
    ;
    ;
    ;

    Statistics

    Access and download statistics

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:eee:jeeman:v:110:y:2021:i:c:s0095069621001017. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Catherine Liu (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://www.elsevier.com/locate/inca/622870 .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.